How Many American Lives Is The Second Amendment Worth?

01/10/2017 06:31 EST
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Updated
01/10/2017 12:38 EST

Fransi Weinstein
Freelance writer and blogger. Also writing a book. Curious about everything.

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA - JANUARY 06: A view from Fort Lauderdale International Airport after all incoming and outgoing flights were canceled after Fridays shooting inside a terminal on January 06, 2017 in Florida, USA. (Photo by Carlos Miller/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Five people were killed, almost 40 were injured, and hundreds were traumatized.

The gun was obtained legally and it was declared -- which means that the proper procedures for traveling with a weapon were followed. In the eyes of the law, this murderer had done everything right.

Yet it all went so horribly and tragically wrong. And another madman with a grudge and a gun he shouldn't have had, slipped through the cracks.

A few months ago Santiago, who was a security guard in Alaska, showed up at an FBI office there -- telling them that "voices" were telling him to fight for ISIS. The FBI turned him over to local authorities and he agreed to a mental health evaluation.

How did he get a job as a security guard with his National Guard record?

Considering that record, and his mental health issues, how was he able to legally get a gun?

How is it, that someone who was discharged from the National Guard, is known to the FBI, claimed he was told to fight for ISIS, had mental health issues and declared he was traveling with a gun was allowed to get on that flight?

It's a disgrace.

And, as we all know, it's not an isolated incident. It's not even the first incident of 2017.

"Is it really okay that five people lost their lives so that Esteban Santiago could enjoy his 'Constitutional right to bear arms'?"

Here we are, mere days into a new year. On the first day of 2017 there were already 264 incidents of gun violence in the U.S. -- with at least 64 people killed and 146 injured.

As of January 5 those numbers rose to 500 shootings, 113 deaths and 288 injuries.

If, like me, you had hopes that, if Hillary Clinton became president, we might at last see some much-needed, long-overdue gun control in the U.S. we can certainly forget about it now.